May 31, 2017

The deluge is working

Yesterday I was listening to Rush Limbaugh and I was stunned that he was telling listeners to tune out (not of his show, but of the mainstream media deluge (assault) on president Donald Trump). I understand the rationale - it's disheartening to hear the constant drumbeat of Russia/incompetence/malfeasance that they fabricate about the president.

But to hear Rush Limbaugh say something like that makes me wonder if fatigue is setting in for Trump supporters . Rush has always maintained that words matter, that paying attention matters and that fighting back matters. To hear him advise people to step back a bit for their own mental health makes sense. But, and it's an important but, that is succumbing to the onslaught because it means not fighting back 100%. It's important to fight back because if you don't the deluge wins. We are literally fighting a liberal tsunami of vitriol and deceit. You cannot step back and still win. You need to fight harder, and more intelligently than your political opposition who hold all the high cards - media, education, entertainment, etc. We need to organize our own efforts to break these important strangleholds. Stepping back does not accomplish that.

To put a finer point on it - Rush is not asking his listeners to skip listening to his show - he was talking about the mainstream media. But that does not change the overall implication. You cannot effectively refute a charge in a conversation with your liberal friends if you don't know about it. You need to know what the media is fabricating. You also need to know the truth (ergo, Rush, Breitbart etc.)

Rush is frustrated. I get that. I am too. For my own part I've been posting less, in some part because I have been listening less. It's also harder to defend than to attack in politics. But that does not make it any less necessary. Also, the frustration we are experiencing is not entirely media driven. A lot of it is directed at Republicans who are not moving effectively enough or quickly enough on president Trump's agenda to repeal and replace Obamacare, lower taxes, reduce regulation etc. Those issues if successfully addressed would absolutely kill the media onslaught. A booming economy trumps (pun intended) slander and faux scandal guaranteed. Move the agenda forward as if your political life depends on it Republicans, because it kinda does.